It's Even Worse Than You Think
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“auto companies that are coming back”: Donald J. Trump, speech, Phoenix, Arizona, Aug. 22, 2017, https://www.c-span.org/video/?432748-1/president-trump-criticizes-dishonest-media-defends-charlottesville-remarks-rally-phoenix.
technology, especially in Texas: CNNMoney Staff, “Trump and Jobs: A Running Fact Check,” CNNMoney, March 28, 2017, http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/17/news/companies/donald-trump-jobs-watch/index.html.
soft demand from buyers: Ibid.
reporter Jason Stein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jason Stein, “Wisconsin’s Offer to Foxconn Grew Substantially and Hit $3 Billion on Handwritten Note,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Aug. 31, 2017, http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2017/08/31/wisconsins-offer-started-handwrittento-foxconn-grew-substantially-over-negotiations-after-handwritte/622041001/.
Trump never mentioned: Fiona Tam, “Foxconn Factories Are Labour Camps: Report,” South China Morning Post, Oct. 11, 2010, http://www.scmp.com/article/727143/foxconn-factories-are-labour-camps-report.
much more skilled manufacturing workers: Danielle Paquette, “The Real Reason Ford Abandoned Its Plant in Mexico Has Little to Do with Trump,” Washington Post, Jan. 4, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/01/04/the-real-reason-ford-abandoned-its-plant-in-mexico-has-little-to-do-with-trump/?utm_term=.cd076449759a.
a lifelong Cadillac fan: Mark Ehrenfreund and Jim Tankersley, “Donald Trump Has a Favorite Carmaker, and That Might Be a Problem,” Washington Post, Dec. 22, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/12/22/donald-trump-has-a-favorite-carmaker-and-that-might-be-a-problem.
associated with the Colombo crime family: William Bastone, “Trump Limos Were Built with a Hood Ornament,” The Smoking Gun, Sept. 22, 2015, http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/trump-and-staluppi-092157.
FORGETTING THE FORGOTTEN MAN
killed the webpage: Jordan Barab, “OSHA Covers Up Workplace Fatalities,” Confined Space, Aug. 25, 2017, http://jordanbarab.com/confinedspace/2017/08/25/osha-hides-workplace-fatalities/.
prior to 2017: United States Department of Labor, OSHA, website, “Fatality Inspection Data,” https://www.osha.gov/dep/fatcat/dep_fatcat.html.
“President Trump’s War on Regulation”: White House website, “President Trump’s War on Regulation Results in Near-Record High CEO Confidence,” Feb. 8, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2017/02/08/trumps-war-regulation-results-near-record-high-ceo-confidence.
average thirteen per day: United States Department of Labor, OSHA, website, “Commonly Used Statistics,” https://www.osha.gov/oshstats/commonstats.html.
killed on the job: Jordan Barab, “Weekly Toll: OSHA Won’t Tell You Who Died in the Workplace. We Will,” Confined Space, Aug. 28, 2017, http://jordanbarab.com/confinedspace/2017/08/28/weekly-toll-osha-wont-tell/.
“no interest in worker issues, either”: Author interview, April 4, 2017.
“contrary to the national interest”: The White House, “President Trump Eliminates Job-Killing Regulations,” March 30, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2017/03/30/president-trump-eliminates-job-killing-regulations.
“working people’s health and safety”: “Gorsuch Confirmation Hearing, Day 4, Part I,” C-SPAN, March 23, 2017, https://www.c-span.org/video/?425700-1/final-day-gorsuch-confirmation-hearing-focuses-witness-testimomny&live.
refuse dangerous tasks: United States Department of Labor, OSHA, website, “Workers’ Right to Refuse Dangerous Work,” https://www.osha.gov/right-to-refuse.html.
Truck driver Alphonse Maddin: TransAm Trucking, Inc. v. Administrative Review Board, United States Department of Labor, No. 15-9504, appeal from the Department of Labor (except OSHA), ARB. No. 13-031, https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/15/15-9504.pdf.
“dissent, Judge Gorsuch”: Dick Durbin, press release, “Durbin: Gorsuch Has a Troubling Record of Ruling Against Workers and Families,” March 3, 2017, https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-gorsuch-has-a-troubling-record-of-ruling-against-workers-and-families.
A rule went into effect: United States Department of Labor, OSHA, press release, “US Labor Department Proposes Delay to Beryllium Rule Effective Date,” March 1, 2017, https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/national/03012017.
where silica is used: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Silicosis Mortality Trends and New Exposures to Respirable Crystalline Silica—United States, 2001–2010,” Feb. 13, 2015, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6405a1.htm.
“form the basis of lawsuits”: Chamber letter by Neil Bradley, chief policy officer, in Impact of Federal Regulations on Domestic Manufacturing (Docket No. 170302221-7221-01); DOC-2017-0001-0001.
Driver fatigue: Author interview, Sept. 11, 2017. Claybrook cited National Highway Transportation Safety Administration data including “Traffic Safety Facts 2015 Data,” February 2017, https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/Publication/812373.
A notice in the Federal Register: Federal Register, “Evaluation of Safety Sensitive Personnel for Moderate-to-Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea,” Aug. 8, 2017, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/08/08/2017-16451/evaluation-of-safety-sensitive-personnel-for-moderate-to-severe-obstructive-sleep-apnea.
World Economic Outlook: International Monetary Fund, “World Economic Outlook Update, July 2017,” http://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2017/07/07/world-economic-outlook-update-july-2017.
WASHINGTON APPRENTICE
“take apart an engine blindfolded”: White House Press Secretary Office, “Remarks by President Trump in Roundtable Discussion on Vocational Training with U.S. and German Business Leaders,” March 17, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/03/17/remarks-president-trump-roundtable-discussion-vocational-training-us-and.
“the very near future as to GDP”: White House Press Secretary Office, “Remarks by President Trump at Signing of an Executive Order on Apprenticeship and Workforce of Tomorrow Initiatives,” June 15, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/06/15/remarks-president-trump-signing-executive-order-apprenticeship-and.
The executive order declared: White House Press Secretary Office, “Presidential Executive Order Expanding Apprenticeships in America,” June 15, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/06/15/presidential-executive-order-expanding-apprenticeships-america.
THE TAX EXPERT
to include Trump’s name: Rebecca Savransky, “NSC Officials Include Trump’s Name as Often as Possible so He Reads Memos: Report,” The Hill, May 17, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/333788-nsc-official-include-trumps-name-as-often-as-possible-so-he-reads.
sixth-grade grammar: Justin Wm. Moyer, “Trump’s Grammar in Speeches ‘Just Below 6th Grade Level,’ Study Finds,” Washington Post, March 18, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/18/trumps-grammar-in-speeches-just-below-6th-grade-level-study-finds/.
two administrative trials: David Cay Johnston, “New Evidence Donald Trump Didn’t Pay Taxes,” Daily Beast, June 15, 2016, http://www.thedailybeast.com/new-evidence-donald-trump-didnt-pay-taxes.
“It’s never below zero”: Louis Jacobson, “Donald Trump Gets Claim About U.S. GDP Doubly Wrong,” PolitiFact, June 16, 2015, http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jun/16/donald-trump/donald-trump-says-us-gdp-never-negative-ter//.
actors paid fifty bucks: Aaron Couch and Emmet McDermott, “Donald Trump Campaign Offered Actors $50 to Cheer for Him at Presidential Announcement,” Hollywood Reporter, June 17, 2015, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/donald-trump-campaign-offered-actors-803161.
“we have an amazing code”: Tom McCarthy and Ben Jacobs, “Donald Trump Unveils Tax Plan with Cuts for Poorest and Richest Americans,” The Guardian, Sept. 28, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/28/donald-trump-unveils-tax-plan.
from 1967 through 2012: Chad Stone, Danilo Trisi, Arloc Sherman, and Emily Horton, “A Guide to Statistics on Historical Trends in Income Inequality,” Center on B
udget and Policy Priorities, Nov. 7, 2016, https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/a-guide-to-statistics-on-historical-trends-in-income-inequality.
“a whole different ballgame”: Mathew J. Belvedere, “A ‘Revved Up Economy’ Will Help Pay for My Agenda, Trump Says,” CNBC, Feb. 28, 2017, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/28/a-revved-up-economy-will-help-pay-for-my-agenda-trump-says.html.
Steve Mnuchin and Gary Cohn: “The 1-Page White House Handout on Trump’s Tax Proposal,” CNN, April 26, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/26/politics/white-house-donald-trump-tax-proposal/index.html.
TRUMP’S TAX RETURN
the tax return story at DCReport.org: David Cay Johnston, “Trump Earned $153 Million in 2005; He Paid $36.6 Million in Taxes,” DCReport.org, March 14, 2017, https://www.dcreport.org/2017/03/14/taxes/.
sent anonymously to The New York Times: David Barstow, Susanne Craig, Russ Buettner, and Megan Twohey, “Donald Trump Tax Records Show He Could Have Avoided Taxes for Nearly Two Decades, The Times Found,” New York Times, Oct. 1, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-taxes.html.
the New York Daily News: Nicole Hensley and Rich Schapiro, “Trump Tax Returns Surface: The Donald’s $916M Loss in 1995 Means He Could Have Avoided Paying for 18 Years,” New York Daily News, Oct. 2, 2106, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-tax-records-show-avoided-paying-20-years-article-1.2814176.
“That makes me smart”: Daniella Diaz, “Trump: ‘I’m Smart’ for Not Paying Taxes,” CNN, Sept. 27, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/26/politics/donald-trump-federal-income-taxes-smart-debate/index.html.
Joseph Weichselbaum, a mob associate: William Bastone, “Trump Vouched for Cocaine Trafficker,” The Smoking Gun, Feb. 16, 2016, ttp://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/the-donald-and-the-dealer-173892. “Trump: Cocaine Dealer? What Cocaine Dealer?” The Smoking Gun, March 1, 2016, http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/trump-dge-report-weichselbaum-563821. David Cay Johnston, “Just What Were Donald Trump’s Ties to the Mob?” Politico Magazine, May 22, 2016, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/donald-trump-2016-mob-organized-crime-213910.
risked his casino license: David Cay Johnston, “The Drug Trafficker Donald Trump Risked His Casino Empire to Protect,” The Daily Beast, Oct. 19, 2016, https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-drug-trafficker-donald-trump-risked-his-casino-empire-to-protect; see also Trump: The Deals and the Downfall, Wayne Barrett (New York: HarperCollins 1992), where the story broke, and Libby Handros documentary.
TRUMP’S WALL
20 percent tariff on Mexican imports: Gregory Korte and David Jackson, “Trump Mulls 20% Border Tax on Mexico; Aides Later Call It Just an Option,” USA Today, Jan. 26, 2017, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/26/trump-propose-20-mexican-border-tax-pay-wall/97099374/.
$4 billion per year: United States Energy Information, “U.S. Net Imports from Mexico of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products, Monthly, https://www.eia.gov/opendata/qb.php?sdid=PET.MTTNTUSMX2.M.
“They’ll be very happy to pay”: Jake Miller, “Mexico Will ‘Be Very Happy to Pay’ for Border Wall, Trump Says,” CBS News, May 1, 2017, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexico-will-be-very-happy-to-pay-for-border-wall-trump-says/. Accessed Sept. 2, 2017.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions: This Week with George Stephanopoulos, “Transcript 4-23-17: Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Xavier Becerra,” ABC News, April 23, 2017, http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-23-17-attorney-general-jeff-sessions/story?id=46955082. Accessed Sept. 2, 2017.
children sixteen and younger: Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, “Individuals Who Are Not Authorized to Work in the United States Were Paid $4.2 Billion in Refundable Credits,” July 7, 2011, https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2011reports/201141061fr.pdf. Accessed Sept. 2, 2017.
$7.6 billion: Joint Committee on Taxation Staff, “Description of the Budget Reconciliation Legislative Recommendations Relating to Social Security Number Requirements for the Refundable Portion of the Child Tax Credit,” April 18, 2012, https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4421.
Census Bureau data showed: United States Census Bureau, “Trade in Goods with Mexico,” https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c2010.html.
POLLUTERS’ PARADISE
sued the EPA fourteen times: “Pruitt v. EPA: 14 Challenges of EPA Rules by the Oklahoma Attorney General,” New York Times, Jan. 14, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/14/us/politics/document-Pruitt-v-EPA-a-Compilation-of-Oklahoma-14.html.
“the EPA’s activist agenda”: Justin Worland, “What You Need to Know About Scott Pruitt, Trump’s Pick for EPA,” Time, Dec. 7, 2016, http://time.com/4594238/donald-trump-scott-pruitt-epa/.
told to not take any notes: Coral Davenport and Eric Lipton, “Scott Pruitt Is Carrying Out His E.P.A. Agenda in Secret, Critics Say,” New York Times, Aug. 11, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/us/politics/scott-pruitt-epa.html.
“Chinese hoax”: Louis Jacobson, “Yes, Donald Trump Did Call Climate Change a Chinese Hoax,” PolitiFact, June 3, 2016, http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jun/03/hillary-clinton/yes-donald-trump-did-call-climate-change-chinese-h/.
“as you do your work”: Scott Pruitt, speech to EPA staff, Feb. 21, 2017, https://www.c-span.org/video/?424362-1/administrator-scott-pruitt-addresses-epa-employees.
“degraded environment”: Jacqueline Thomsen, “Top EPA Official Resigns over Direction of Agency Under Trump,” The Hill, Aug. 1, 2017, http://thehill.com/news-by-subject/energy-environment/344825-top-epa-official-resigns-over-direction-of-agency-under.
GO FOIA YOURSELF
less than a third of Obama’s five-year average: Eric Katz, “EPA Has Slashed Its Criminal Investigation Division in Half,” Government Executive, Aug. 24, 2017, http://www.govexec.com/management/2017/08/epa-has-slashed-its-criminal-investigation-division-half/140509/.
INTERIOR PURGING
673-page document: U.S. Global Change Research Program Climate Science Speacial Report (CSSR), Fifth-Order Draft, June 28, 2017, https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3920195/Final-Draft-of-the-Climate-Science-Special-Report.pdf.
seventy-four questions: “Questions Posed by President-Elect Trump’s Transition Team to Energy Department Officials,” Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/politics/questions-posed-by-president-elect-trumps-transition-team-to-energy-department-officials/2143/.
Senator Edward Markey: Edward J. Markey, letter to Donald J. Trump, Dec. 9, 2016, https://www.markey.senate.gov//imo/media/doc/2016-12-09-Markey-PresidentTrump-DOE.pdf.
STRIPPING SCIENCE
“the world’s greatest person”: Greg Miller, Julia Vitkovskaya, and Reuben Fischer-Baum, “ ‘This Deal Will Make Me Look Terrible’: Full Transcripts of Trump’s Calls with Mexico and Australia,” Washington Post, Aug. 3, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/politics/australia-mexico-transcripts/.
Science and Technology Policy: The White House, National Science and Technology Council webpage, https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/nstc#Documents_Reports.
policy office webpage: The White House, National Science and Technology Council webpage, “OSTP News and Public Releases,” https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news.
urgent scientific and technological issues: The White House, Office of Science and Technology Policy, “NSTC Documents and Reports,” https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/ostp/nstc/docsreports.
atmospheric, oceanic, and food safety science: “Tracking How Many Key Positions Trump Has Filled So Far,” Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-administration-appointee-tracker/database/?add-filter=science-positions&tid=a_inl. Last accessed Sept. 14, 2017.
profitable products and services: Mick Mulvaney, “Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies,” Aug. 17, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/memoranda/2017/m-17-30.pdf. Accessed Sept. 10, 2017.
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infesting cattle herds: Goldengooseaward.org, “2016: The Sex Life of the Screwworm Fly,” https://www.goldengooseaward.org/awardees/screwworms.
according to the Commerce Department: Justin Antonipillai and Michelle K. Lee, “Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: 2016 Update,” Economics and Statistics Administration and United States Patent and Trademark Office, Sept. 2016, https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/IPandtheUSEconomySept2016.pdf.
STOCKING THE SWAMP
a Boeing 777 generates only 110,000 horsepower: Alexis C. Madrigal, “A Single Boeing 777 Engine Delivers Twice the Horsepower of All the Titanic’s,” The Atlantic, Dec. 30, 2011, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/12/a-single-boeing-777-engine-delivers-twice-the-horsepower-of-all-the-titanics/250698/.
$50 billion worth: Catherine Traywick, “Energy Projects Worth $50 Billion Are Stalled Until Trump Fills Empty Posts,” Bloomberg News, May 5, 2017, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-05/trump-s-delay-stalls-50-billion-of-energy-projects-in-pipeline.
“The jihad has begun”: Marie Cusick, “Utility Regulator Slams Pipeline Opponents,” StateImpact/NPR, March 21, 2017, https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2017/03/21/utility-regulator-slams-pipeline-opponents/.
had moved out of more than a decade before: Sean Sullivan and Glen Boshart, “FERC’s Bay: Transition Team Knew I Would Leave; Chair Swap Got Lost in the Mail,” SNL, Feb. 1, 2017, http://www.snl.com/web/client?auth=inherit#news/article?id=39289785&cdid=A-39289785-10531.
DIPLOMACY
“express their feelings”: Mathew J. Belvedere, “Commerce’s Wilbur Ross Sees a ‘Big Sea Change’ in Saudi Arabia Regarding Women in Business,” CNBC, May 22, 2017, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/22/commerces-wilbur-ross-sees-a-big-sea-change-in-saudi-arabia-regarding-women-in-business.html; Patrick Wintour, “UN Accuses Saudi Arabia of Using Terror Laws to Suppress Free Speech,” The Guardian, May 4, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/04/un-accuses-saudi-arabia-of-using-terror-laws-to-suppress-free-speech; United Nations, “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/.